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Ukraine's non-NATO pledge moot as alliance decides everything — top Hungarian diplomat

Peter Szijjarto emphasized that Ukraine’s membership in NATO was "purely a Ukrainian agenda item"

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

BUDAPEST, December 16. /TASS/. When Ukraine says that it will not seek to join NATO, it's important to remember that the alliance hasn't even agreed to bring it into the bloc, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

"It is absolutely clear that we are a far cry from any consensus on this matter in NATO. So, Ukraine’s membership in NATO is purely a Ukrainian agenda item. But this doesn’t matter at all because it is not up to Ukraine to make any decisions on this matter," he told journalists, commenting on reports that Vladimir Zelensky has said he is ready to drop the idea of seeking NATO membership if the United States and the European Union grant security guarantees to Ukraine under the peace deal.

Thus, Financial Times said on December 14, citing its sources, that Kiev had agreed to drop its NATO-ward ambitions under certain circumstances.

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